A Union Sit-In, Global Warming Politics and Mortgage Modification
Laid off union members stage a sit-in at the recently-closed Republic Windows & Doors plant in Chicago.
Physicist Richard A. Muller endorses “exaggeration and distortion” in the pursuit of educating the public about global warming.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chair Sheila Bair plans to “modify” 1.5 million home loans to prevent foreclosures.
More headlines: listen to the LibertyWeek podcast.
1. LABOR
Laid off union members stage a sit-in at the recently-closed Republic Windows & Doors plant in Chicago.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Eli Lehrer on how the city of Chicago itself could suffer from the plant’s closing:
“I’ve had some fleeting contact with the management of the Republic Windows and Doors plant that striking workers have famously occupied. Working on an article for Governing Magazine about Chicago’s use of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) – a form of government-to-business subsidy – Chicago’s Planning and Development Commissioner cited Republic as a shinning success story for the city. Because TIF financing (which uses property taxes to return the subsidy to the public treasury) relies on the business continuing to operate and continue to pay taxes, it seems likely that the City of Chicago will end up in trouble too as a result of the company’s shut-down.”
2. ENVIRONMENT
Physicist Richard A. Muller endorses “exaggeration and distortion” in the pursuit of educating the public about global warming.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Adjunct Fellow Doug Bandow on where Muller’s logic could lead:
“At least Muller admits that [global warming advocate] James Hansen no longer is a real scientist, but rather is doing politics. That doesn’t seem to bother Muller. And his assessment of Gore–well, what’s a little ‘exaggeration and distortion’ among friends? If the facts about catastrophic warming are so compelling, then why aren’t the facts enough? Presumably because, well, the facts aren’t nearly as compelling as the alarmist lobby wishes to believe. If one is pushing a good cause, and who in Washington doesn’t believe they are doing so? Then who is not entitled to exaggerate, distort, and even lie?”
3. FINANCE
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chair Sheila Bair plans to “modify” 1.5 million home loans to prevent foreclosures.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Special Projects Counsel Hans Bader on how Bair’s policy rewards irresponsibility:
“Delinquent borrowers have received reductions in the interest and principal on their mortgages, resulting in interest rates of 3 percent or less, way below the rates available to responsible people who pay their bills on time. Bair’s excuse for this has been that borrowers won’t default if their mortgages are made less onerous. But she’s wrong. Delinquent borrowers who have received new, easier-to-pay mortgages are defaulting in large numbers on the new mortgages, too, at enormous expense to taxpayers.”
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